Worldwide Android News 31/07/15 – Xiaomi, Google And More

HTC One E9 (Dual SIM) Gets Released In Taiwan

The One E9 was announced back in May, and it’s one of HTC’s mid-range offerings. This smartphone has just launched in Taiwan for NT$9,990 ($320), and HTC has announced that they’ll promote the phone in partnership with 5 Taiwanese carriers (Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile, Far EastTone Telecommunications, Taiwan Star Telecom and Asia Pacific Telecom). The device sports a 5.5-inch 1080p display, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, and is powered by MediaTek’s MT6795M octa-core SoC.

Archos’ Revenue Goes Up 25% In Q2 2015

Archos is a French smartphone OEM which has just announced that their revenue went up 25% compared to the same time period last year. Archos did really well in Africa, and the Middle East as far as smartphone sales go, which certainly helped them succeed. Archos expects further growth in the third quarter this year, their entry-level Helium 4G phones might help them get there.

Xiaomi Mi Note 64GB Reaches Taiwan Market

Xiaomi has announced the Mi Note and Mi Note Pro smartphones back in January, and the company has also introduced the 64GB variant of the Mi Note a couple of weeks ago. Well, Xiaomi has now launched that variant of the device in Taiwan, through the partnership with Far EasTone Telecommunications (carrier). The Mi Note sports a 5.7-inch 1080p display, 3GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The 13-megapixel shooter is available on its back, and this device is fueled by the Snapdragon 801 Soc. The device is priced at NT$12,499 ($403).

Samsung Galaxy A8 Now Available In South Korea Through SK Telecom

Samsung has launched the Galaxy A8 quite recently, and the phone is now available in the company’s homeland through SK Telecom (exclusively). Samsung’s thinnest smartphone to date is priced at 649,000 won ($560), which is interesting considering this is a mid-range device, The Galaxy A8 features a 5.7-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display, 2GB of RAM and a 16-megapixel camera on its back. The device is powered by the Exynos 5430 octa-core processor, and packs in a 3,050mAh battery, while it’s only 5.9mm thick.

Micromax Unveils Canvas Xpress 2 E313 Mid-Ranger In India

Micromax has launched yet another mid-range device in India this week. The Canvas Xpress 2 E313 features a 5-inch 720p display, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of expandable internal storage. This device is powered by MediaTek’s MT6592M SoC, and ships with a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera (OmniVision’s OV13850 sensor). The device comes with Android 4.4 KitKat pre-installed, and packs in a 2,500mAh battery. The phone is priced at Rs. 5,999 ($94), and it will be available exclusively from Flipkart starting August 4th (flash sale).

Celkon Millennia Xplore Is The Company’s Newest Entry-Level Device

The Celkon Millennia Xplore sports a 5-inch 720p IPS OGS display, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of expandable storage. This is a dual-SIM handset which ships with a 2,000mAh battery, and comes with Android 5.0 Lollipop pre-installed. The device is powered by an unnamed quad-core SoC clocked at 1.3GHz. The 13-megapixel shooter is available n its back, and an 8-megapixel camera can be found up front. The Millennia Xplore costs Rs. 6,999 ($109), and a free smart cover is included in the package.

Google Play Movies Now Available In Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore

As you all know, not all countries have access to Google Play Movies, Google Play Books, etc. In other words, certain Google services are market dependent. That being said, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore just got access to Google Play Movies. It seems like Google expands the availability of their services every week, and that’s probably true, but there are still quite a few countries which have no access to Google Play Movies, and some other Google services, like paid apps in the Google Play Store for example.

Minimum App Price In India’s Google Play Store Is Now Rs. 10 ($0.16)

Google has decided to lower the minimum purchase price in the Indian Google Play Store. Indian users can now purchase an app for only Rs. 10 ($0.16), which, of course, makes them more affordable. India is the second biggest smartphone market in the world, and this move seems logical by Google considering there’s a huge demand for such low-priced apps in the country. Developers can now lower the price of their apps inside the developer console.